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A new structure for the sea ice essential climate variables of the Global Climate Observing System
Citation
Lavergne, T and Kern, S and Aaboe, S and Derby, L and Dybkjaer, GM and Garric, G and Heil, P and Hendricks, S and Holfort, J and Howell, S and Key, J and Lieser, JL and Maksym, T and Maslowski, W and Meier, W and Munoz-Sabater, J and Nicolas, J and Ozsoy, B and Rabe, B and Rack, W and Raphael, M and de Rosnay, P and Smolyanitsky, V and Tietsche, S and Ukita, J and Vichi, M and Wagner, P and Willmes, S and Zhao, X, A new structure for the sea ice essential climate variables of the Global Climate Observing System, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 103, (6) pp. E1502-E1521. ISSN 0003-0007 (2022) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
ｩ2022 American Meteorological Society
DOI: doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0227.1
Abstract
Climate observations inform about the past and present state of the climate system. They underpin climate science, feed into policies for adaptation and mitigation, and increase awareness of the impacts of climate change. The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), a body of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), assesses the maturity of the required observing system and gives guidance for its development. The Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) are central to GCOS, and the global community must monitor them with the highest standards in the form of Climate Data Records (CDR). Today, a single ECV葉he sea ice ECV容ncapsulates all aspects of the sea ice environment. In the early 1990s it was a single variable (sea ice concentration) but is today an umbrella for four variables (adding thickness, edge/extent, and drift). In this contribution, we argue that GCOS should from now on consider a set of seven ECVs (sea ice concentration, thickness, snow depth, surface temperature, surface albedo, age, and drift). These seven ECVs are critical and cost effective to monitor with existing satellite Earth observation capability. We advise against placing these new variables under the umbrella of the single sea ice ECV. To start a set of distinct ECVs is indeed critical to avoid adding to the suboptimal situation we experience today and to reconcile the sea ice variables with the practice in other ECV domains.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | sea ice, climate change, climatology, climate records |
| Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
| Research Group: | Oceanography |
| Research Field: | Physical oceanography |
| Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
| Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
| Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences |
| UTAS Author: | Heil, P (Dr Petra Heil) |
| UTAS Author: | Lieser, JL (Dr Jan Lieser) |
| ID Code: | 150538 |
| Year Published: | 2022 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 3 |
| Deposited By: | Directorate |
| Deposited On: | 2022-06-20 |
| Last Modified: | 2022-11-03 |
| Downloads: | 1 View Download Statistics |
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